Pubdate: Sat, 26 May 2001 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: http://www.fyitoronto.com/torsun.shtml Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457 Author: Rob Lamberti Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers) 5 FORCES PLOTTING WAR ON GANGS Hells Angels Gaining Ground In City Five of the largest police forces in Ontario and Quebec are planning allied counterstrikes against biker gangs and other organized crime groups, senior officers say. Buoyed by successes against Quebec bikers and alarmed at the rapid growth of the Hells Angels in Ontario, six senior cops from the two provinces met last week to plan strategy. It was agreed that Mounties in both provinces, Surete du Quebec, Montreal Police, Toronto Police and the OPP will merge some of their long-term projects against crime cartels. "What we find is that we have the same criminals, the same problems in both provinces," OPP Deputy Commissioner Vaughn Collins said in an interview yesterday. Toronto Supt. Rocky Cleveland said organized crime controls a wide variety of rackets: Fraud, weapons and drug dealing, robberies, extortions and alien smuggling. 'Canadian Problem' "It's not a Toronto problem, it's not a Montreal problem," he said. "It's a Canadian problem but, in our two provinces, we can do something ... We have the power. We have authority." "We already set goals and target organized crime. Now, we're doing it collectively," Collins added. He said the Hells are "the most significant organization" in Ontario with about 200 members and 2,000 associates. Last December, the Hells and rival Bandidos entered Ontario, with the Bandidos also setting up puppet gangs Killerbeez and Palmers. The Outlaws are reported to be recruiting heavily in the Toronto area. With Quebec's success in prosecuting bikers, "we've seen some Hells Angels (who) picked up their belongings and moved to Ontario where it seems, at the moment, to be a little bit safer," Collins said. Despite police resources being tied up to prosecute them, the six forces are also targeting others who stand to gain when biker operations are shut down. Organized Crime "Other organized crime groups are watching what's going on and are discussing how to take advantage of the motorcycle gang wars and the police dedication to motorcycle gangs," Collins said. "We're talking about traditional organized crime, Asian organized crime, Eastern European crime." In the past two years, Quebec police have jailed hundreds of bikers involved in drug dealing and a brutal gang war that has left more than 300 killed and wounded. "When you take out some players, the market is still there," said Montreal Asst. Director Marc St-Laurent. "The people who take drugs, they still want drugs. There are other groups who want to take their place." Surete Assistant Director Jean Bourdeau said seized documents from the Quebec Hells Angels showed 40 million lines of cocaine were shipped to Ontario last year. "They had flooded the market with 2,000 kilos of cocaine," he said. "Plus 2,000 kilos of hashish. That's just bikers." The reality, Bourdeau said, is that no one force can take on multi-national, and nationwide crime groups alone. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager